From intentional wrecks to corporate espionage, Formula 1 has seen plenty of scandals in its 75-year history.

Today, we’re ranking seven of the biggest F1 scandals of all time by shock factor, starting with the least shocking.

Seven major F1 scandals ranked by shock factor
1982 drivers’ strike

Why: Most F1 drivers boycotted the South African Grand Prix in a major display of power regarding a disagreement about new Super License rules.
Shock Factor: 🚨

Heading into the 1982 season, returning driver Niki Lauda noticed something strange: He was asked to sign a Super License contract, and he didn’t like its terms.

See, that contract would only be active so long as a driver remained with one team. If Lauda were to defect to a new team midway through the season, his Super License would be invalidated. Making matters even worse was a clause that required drivers to refrain from saying anything negative about F1.

Lauda rang up Grand Prix Drivers’ Association head Didier Pironi, who was equally alarmed at the implications of the Super License contract. So, at the 1982 season opener — the South African Grand Prix — the two organised a drivers’ strike.

As drivers arrived at the circuit, they were met by Pironi and Lauda, who explained the issue and asked if those drivers would like to board a bus that would take them to a hotel ballroom, where they’d barricade themselves until a deal was reached.

The drivers demanded changes, but the president of FISA (then the sporting arm of the FIA) Jean-Marie Balestre claimed that no changes could be made until the F1 circus returned to Europe. Drivers without their licenses would be barred from competing in South Africa. That didn’t deter them, and they whiled away the hours cracking jokes and playing piano.

Ultimately, the race went ahead, but drivers were fined between $5,000 and $10,000 and handed suspended race bans. Drivers still refused to pay, and the Super License agreement was ultimately amended to remove that clause about sticking with one team.

2005 US Grand Prix

Why: Six cars lined up for a Grand Prix as concerns over tyre safety led one rubber manufacturer to withdraw from the race, marring the image of F1 in America for decades.
Shock Factor: 🚨🚨

When two Michelin tyres failed in the build-up to the 2005 United States Grand Prix, the rubber maker advised all seven of its customer teams to withdraw from the race, leaving just six Bridgestone-shod cars to start the Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon.

The track was an infield road course laid out inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but critically, it utilised one of the oval’s banked turns as part of the layout. The Michelin tyres were simply unable to withstand the intense forces levied on them around that final, banked turn. With tyre changes banned – a rule introduced that season to end Ferrari’s domination of F1 – there was serious concern that Michelin cars could safely compete.

Michelin suggested a handful of options, such as adding a chicane before the offending turn, or by allowing in-race tyre changes. The FIA argued instead that any amendments would be unfair to the well-prepared Bridgestone teams. Michelin thus decided to withdraw.

It left the three teams that utilised Bridgestone tyres — Ferrari, Jordan, and Minardi — the only three cars to line up on the sparse grid on Sunday.

Fans were irate. They’d come to see a proper motor race and were instead subjected to what Minardi boss Paul Stoddart referred to as “a farce.” While Michelin offered to compensate fans by refunding their race tickets and buying them tickets to the event in 2006, the damage was done, and it took years for Formula 1 to rehabilitate its image in America.

More F1 scandal analysis from PlanetF1.com:

👉 When F1 legend Juan Manuel Fangio was kidnapped at gunpoint in Cuba

👉 Nelson Piquet Jr. opens up on Crashgate and his reasons for that ‘mistake’

Senna/Prost collide in 1989

Why: Ayrton Senna lunged inside McLaren teammate Alain Prost in a desperate bid to win the championship at Suzuka, only to end up in a whole heap of trouble.
Shock Factor: 🚨🚨🚨

Tensions between McLaren teammates Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost had been escalated, with the two falling out as their rivalry picked up speed.

Coming into the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix, both were in contention for the title — but Senna, 16 points in arrears, needed to win at both Japan and the season-ending Australian Grand Prix to overcome the deficit to his teammate. If he didn’t win those races, Prost would be crowned champion.

For the race in Suzuka, Senna took pole, but Prost’s start was better, and he launched into a lead that he held for the first 39 laps. On Lap 40, Senna began his hunt. Then, on Lap 47 of 53: Disaster.

The Brazilian driver tried to sneak through Prost on the inside of the Casio Triangle chicane. The daring move meant he failed to get ahead, and The teammates locked wheels as Prost turned into the corner. Their engines stalled, both cars came to a stop at the chicane exit road.

Prost climbed out of his car, but Senna requested marshals push him down the escape road. He used the motion to restart his engine, then ducked back onto the track. After pitting for damage, Senna tracked down leader Alessandro Nannini and passed him with ease.

Senna crossed the finish line first but was immediately disqualified by stewards after the race for missing the chicane after colliding with Prost.

Senna and McLaren attempted to appeal the ruling under the belief that they’d not gained any significant advantage — but at a later hearing, the ruling was upheld, and Senna was slapped with a $100,000 fine and a suspended six-month ban.

Who was at fault: Prost, or Senna? Fans have debated the move ever since.

Juan Manuel Fangio kidnapped

Why: Five-time Formula 1 World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio was kidnapped at gunpoint from his hotel by Cuban rebels.
Shock Factor: 🚨🚨🚨

On February 23, 1958, five-time Formula 1 World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio thought he was signing an autograph when he realised that, actually, the fan in question was sticking a gun into his ribs and demanding he leave the Hotel Lincoln.

His kidnappers were members of the Cuban Revolution, protesting the violent regime of Fulgencio Batista by kidnapping F1’s biggest superstar the night before the second running of the non-championship Cuban Grand Prix. They had no ill will toward Fangio, and in fact treated him quite well when they finally sequestered him in their hideaway; they even allowed him to call his family to let them know he was safe, and to watch the Cuban Grand Prix on television!

The whole goal was to draw attention to Batista’s failed state by creating an international media sensation, and things were made all the worse by the fact that Cuban police were completely unable to track  Fangio down.

The champion was safely returned to the apartment of Argentina’s Cuban ambassador after 29 hours in captivity. However, the damage to Batista’s seemingly impenetrable regime had been done, and it didn’t take long for Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries to overthrow the Cuban government.

Spygate

Why: McLaren was caught with 780 pages of Ferrari technical documents in a major instance of espionage.
Shock Factor: 🚨🚨🚨🚨

Whether you call it Spygate or Stepneygate, this controversy remains one of the major talking points in F1 history.

In this instance, a disillusioned Ferrari employee named Nigel Stepney provided almost 800 pages of documents to McLaren employee Mike Coughlan. Those documents included major design details and technical specifications, and Coughlin’s wife photocopied those aforementioned documents.

Ferrari discovered the scandal after an employee at a local copy shop grew concerned about the documents being photocopied. That employee reported the issue to Ferrari, which in turn reported it to the FIA, exacerbating an ongoing battle between Ferrari and McLaren at the time.

Making matters even worse was the fact that FIA boss Max Mosley and McLaren team principal Ron Dennis despised each other, and that McLaren was balancing two superstars: Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

At an initial hearing held by the FIA, McLaren itself was cleared of action under the ruling that Coughlan had acted alone.

But then came a second hearing, during which time McLaren was fined $100 million and thrown out of the constructors’ championship for possessing information from another team that could have given it a sporting advantage.

Before that second hearing, Alonso had grown increasingly worried that he was going to be sidelined by McLaren (a British team run by a British boss) in favour of Hamilton (a British driver). An ongoing spat between the drivers and the team ultimately resulted in Alonso threatening to send Spygate-relevant emails to the FIA.

Alonso ultimately apologised and withdrew his email claims, but the second FIA investigation was about to begin nevertheless. That resulted in a $100 million fine, though it could have been worse. Max Mosley was inclined to throw McLaren out of Formula 1, but was talked down to a fine by Bernie Ecclestone, who subsequently quipped that the fine was “$5 million for the offence and $95 million for Ron being a t**t.”

2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Why: Race director Michael Masi failed to implement standard procedure during a title-deciding restart between contenders Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
Shock Factor: 🚨🚨🚨🚨

The F1 2021 season was set to be decided at the season-closing event, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Championship rivals Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes both entered the race tied at 369.5 points. The driver to finish highest would win the title.

Hamilton had a distinct lead on Lap 53, when Williams driver Nicholas Latifi crashed in Turn 9 and brought out a Safety Car with less than five laps remaining in the race. Hamilton remained on track, expecting the race to end under yellow. Verstappen, however, pitted and returned to the track in second place.

Then came the shocking call from race director Michael Masi: The race would go green once the five lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen got out of the way — a procedure that is normally accorded to all lapped cars, but in this instance was limited to the cars in between the two title contenders.

The moment the final lapped car passed the Safety Car, race control announced the Safety Car would dip into the pits and the race would go green for one final lap of racing — a violation of the usual rules that required the Safety Car to complete one final lap after the lapped cars were released.

Hamilton was no match for Verstappen’s fresher tyres, and on that final racing lap, the Dutch driver swept around the reigning champion to take victory.

Fans and Mercedes personnel were shocked. The German marque protested the result, and while stewards dismissed the protest citing an article in the sporting regulations that allows the race director to have “overriding authority” on overriding any restart procedures, Mercedes insisted that the FIA investigate further.

Masi was ultimately removed from his role as race director, with the FIA concluding that, while the results of the race cannot be changed, differing interpretations of FIA regulations led to the confusion.

Crashgate

Why: Nelson Piquet Jr. was ordered to crash to allow Renault teammate Fernando Alonso to win the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
Shock Factor: 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨

As lap 15 approached at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, F1 action was yellow-flagged when Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. collided with the barriers at Turn 17. A Safety Car emerged, prompting a round of pit stops — but, critically, Piquet’s teammate Fernando Alonso had already made his stop on Lap 12.

Rules at the time dictated that the pit lane would remain closed until all the cars lined up behind the Safety Car, so any advantage the leaders had built up was nullified. Alonso ultimately went on to win his first race of the season, while Piquet claimed the crash was “a simple mistake.”

At least, until he was fired from Renault at the start of August in 2009.

By that point, rumours had begun to swirl that Piquet had been ordered to crash in Singapore the previous year. The Brazilian subsequently stated as much, and Renault soon ended up appearing before the World Motor Sport Council for a major hearing that ended in managing director Flavio Briatore and chief engineer Pat Symonds being banned from the sport — for life, and for five years, respectively.

While both of those rulings would later be overturned by a French court, the incident remains the most shocking example of race fixing in F1 history and had far-reaching repercussions. While Piquet was granted immunity, he never raced in F1 again, while Felipe Massa argues that the Singapore event ultimately led him to losing the title to Lewis Hamilton.

Read next: Ron Dennis reveals true motive behind 2007 McLaren scandal and two-year ban threat